sand or bare glass bottom?

[AJ_77]

I would have agreed with you until recently - I cleaned the sandbed out of the tank I just got (1-2 inches' worth of aragonite). It was aboot 18 months old, and the filth that came out of that nearly made me puke. The tank was well-maintained and filtered, B-King skimmer etc... what I would consider "clean," but that nasty skunky leftover toxic mud made me think twice. Just too gross to contemplate.

I think it was a wise moderator here who once said, "how can all that trapped black goo be good for my system?"

Thinking of going BB next time (and I usually love all those little critters that inhabit the sand, add to biodiversity and filtration capacity, etc etc...)

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by AJ_77

I think it was a wise moderator here who once said, "how can all that trapped black goo be good for my system?"

No, I think I said that.

I went BB on my last tank and loved it, then my new tank I waffled and added sand. After 8 months, I've removed it with all the black goo. It was disgusting!

[superduperwesman]

+1 for Sand

[Borderjumper]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

No, I think I said that.

I went BB on my last tank and loved it, then my new tank I waffled and added sand. After 8 months, I've removed it with all the black goo. It was disgusting!

[Trigger Man]

I like BB for ease of cleaning, sand always looks good when clean, but after hearing about the black goo even in well maintained sand tanks I'm happy with my choice.

[Marlin65]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

No, I think I said that.

I went BB on my last tank and loved it, then my new tank I waffled and added sand. After 8 months, I've removed it with all the black goo. It was disgusting!

Black goo is good for growth on corals. I just stirred up all the goo in my sump and my corals loved it they fed and just opened right up with lots of polyp extension.
Just my 2 cents everyone has their own way though.

[kodak]

Thanks again everyone!

[Whatigot]

lol...
what do you guys figure happens to all that "black goo" when you don't have a sand bed to trap it?
I suppose it just ceases to exist?
lol...

[Reefer Rob]

Originally Posted by Whatigot

lol...
what do you guys figure happens to all that "black goo" when you don't have a sand bed to trap it?
I suppose it just ceases to exist?
lol...

It's removed by siphoning, filter socks and your skimmer. If you just leave crud to rot in your tank like in a DSB nasty things happen. Better to keep your tank clean IMO. I keep 1/2" to 3/4" of sand in my tank and stir it regularly so nothing builds up. Tried the DSB thing but it didn't work for me. Much lower nitrates, and a cleaner tank after it was gone. Removing a DSB is one of the most disgusting things you'll ever do!

[Whatigot]

I think that unless you do it properly, dsb's have no merit.

Why is it that so many like James Tullock in my living microcosm book speak so highly of dsbs?

He does say that you need to install it properly and have enough "critters" to maintain it for you but even with changing it every few years, sounds a lot easier than all that maintenance you are doing.

Man, thats a lot of unnecessary work IMO.

My first tank was a 12 gallon aquapod, no skimmer, MASSIVE bioload and a DSB.
That tank was a brick, I credit the ability of that thing to keep everything I ever put into it alive to the dsb that it had.
I had 2 clowns, clown goby, gramma, red reef star, peppermint shrimps and a boxfish not to mention a tonne of coral (all came with it when I bought it and I didn't know better then).
The dsb in that thing was probably 5 years old and it provided food, calcium and trace elements and biological filtration for the overcrowded tank perfectly.
I would NEVER set up a nano tank without one now period.